


Woman's Intuition

by TextualDeviance



Series: The Raven and the Dove [14]
Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 22:03:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1758107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TextualDeviance/pseuds/TextualDeviance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aslaug is curious about the nature of her husband's relationship with his favorite thrall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Woman's Intuition

**Author's Note:**

> Set shortly after 2x01. Follows [Sea Change: Part 2](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1697009)

Perhaps it was Aslaug's gift that drew her toward the alcove room where her new husband's favorite thrall kept his bed. In the past several months that she had been here, curiosity about their unusual relationship had been nibbling at her mind like a mouse at grain. Most of her concerns had of course been aimed at Lagertha, and on figuring out exactly where she and her soon-to-be-born child might fit in Ragnar's world, but now that his first wife had taken her son and gone, she was more free to think about other things. Like, for instance, exactly why her husband was kneeling at the slave's bedside and pushing a glossy, dark curl away from his forehead.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Ragnar murmured. “I’m worried about you.”

The slave shook his head. “I’m fine. It’s just a little cold. I’ll be well in a day or so.” He dissolved into a coughing fit, and when he was done, he looked up, seeing her there in the doorway. "Ragnar," he rasped, nodding toward her.

Ragnar turned, his face flushed, and stared at her. "Why are you here? Do you need something?"

"I was only wondering where you had gone, and now that I see, I'll be back about my own business." She smiled tightly and turned to go. She was unsurprised—though satisfied—to hear Ragnar scrambling to his feet to follow her.

"Are you well?" He caught up to her and put a hand to her face as she sat down on a bench.

"I am. This child of yours grows heavy, and I anxiously await the day when he will leave my body, but I am otherwise healthy."

He released a breath. "Good. I was worried for a moment."

"Why?"

"Well, Athelstan," he nodded back toward the room, "is ailing, and I wanted to be sure you don't have the same thing."

She shook her head. "I do not. I did not know he was ill, however."

"He tells me it's nothing big—he doesn't even have a fever—but after the plague . . . "

She nodded in understanding. "I cannot imagine what it was like for you to lose your daughter. I can see why you would be concerned with anyone showing sickness, even if it's just a slave."

Ragnar winced. "Athelstan's not just—"

"So I am gathering." Her eyes narrowed. "I admit that I am confused by that. I am not used to there being such . . . closeness between free people and their thralls. Is this some custom in this part of the land?"

His shoulders sagged and he stared at the floor. "No. Athelstan is . . . he's a special case."

"He's the one you captured in England, is he not? The Christian?"

Ragnar nodded. "I took him for my slave after that raid, and he provided me with very useful information for other journeys. But he has become much more to me since then. I am his master, yes, but I also consider him a friend."

She raised an eyebrow. "Even though he is a foreigner? And believes in a false god?"

"I do not expect you to understand." He flashed a sheepish smile. "I'm not sure I understand it myself some days."

"Well, I must say that it does disturb me some to see my husband consorting so casually with a slave. Especially one so . . . strange as this one. I would expect an earl to be more concerned with appearances than to debase himself so."

Ragnar's head jerked up, and his icy eyes flashed with sudden anger. "I am not debasing myself, Aslaug. I do not care whether you approve or not. Athelstan is an honored member of my household, and someone I respect deeply. He has a great deal of responsibility and I trust him completely. I do not ask you to feel affection for him, but you must accept that he is important to me. I will hear nothing disrespectful spoken or done to him, is that clear?"

She was taken aback by the intensity of his response, but then a slow smile crept over her face, as she realized her instincts had been correct after all. "Indeed, it is clear."

His voice softened, and he put an arm around her shoulders. "If it helps, try to think of him as a freed man. He is not, nor can I free him yet, for reasons I cannot explain, but in all but legal status, that is what he is. The people of Kattegat have come to understand that. Treating him with kindness will not mean that they will believe you are lowering yourself to socialize with a slave."

"So be it." She ran a hand over her belly. The child inside her was giving her pangs of indigestion today, and she wanted a nap. With some effort and a hand from her husband, she stood again. Before she left to return to her chamber, she patted Ragnar's head, somewhat condescendingly. "I will accept your friendship with this man. I ask only one thing, however."

"Which is?"

She smirked. "Try not to spend too many nights in his bed. I get cold sleeping alone."


End file.
